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> Christina Cage, a 38-year-old chartered accountant in Edinburgh, did not appreciate how important her commute was until she stopped doing it. “I came to reali

> Christina Cage, a 38-year-old chartered accountant in Edinburgh, did not appreciate how important her commute was until she stopped doing it. “I came to realise that my commute was a time where I could transition from being a mum to becoming a colleague with a bit of space in between to myself,” says Cage, who has two young children. “Overnight it became a threshold of a door that didn’t close.” While I can’t say I’d like to pay the price of 2x50 minutes each day, I too miss that piece of time that was truly mine and mine alone. I used it to read, do a mediation or just space out and let my mind wander.

BoxOfRain 5y ago
I'm completely different, I despise my commute because it's time that doesn't truly belong to me and I'm not being paid for. It's getting up earlier and arriving home later for the exclusive purpose of mindless presenteeism, time that belongs to my boss rather than to me because I certainly wouldn't be doing it out of choice. I also have to cycle through often horrible weather around drivers who I can only presume have WW2 fighter style marks for how may cyclists they've managed to run off the road. My next job will be exclusively remote, and I'll be much better off for it. I don't mind what other people choose to do, as long as I'm not forced to participate in the return to the office.
- brtkdotse 5y ago
  Oh, I have no doubt there are commutes that are horrible. The part that I miss from mine is a 26 minute train ride on a train that was always punctual and never more than 50% full.
  - short_sells_poo 5y ago
    In a past life I used to commute to a small scenic village out of a city. It was exactly as you describe: scenic and relaxing 25 minute train ride with not another soul on the train and it was always on time. Now I fly around a lot and it feels like half my life is draining away "waiting to get somewhere".
  - hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
    > 26 minute train ride on a train that was always punctual and never more than 50% full. I'm happy for you but it doesn't seem like a typical commute though.
    - izacus 5y ago
      Typical for whom exactly? Mine is the same, just 15 minute total. What's "typical" for you?
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
    - Smaug123 5y ago
      An internal London-to-London commute could well be like that. My Kennington to Goodge Street commute started with an empty train, while if you can flex your starting time to 10am you're going to have a pretty empty Tube on much of the network.
- nextlevelwizard 5y ago
  > I also *have* to cycle through often horrible weather(...) Except you do not, do you? If the weather is horrible more often than not and you still choose to bicycle then that is on you. Same goes for people who complain that their commute takes upto 2 hours. That is/was a choice you made when you chose your living arrangement and employer. I know I get downvoted for this opinion since it goes against majority of HN, but commute and office work are both really nice and I miss them. I hope come next month our office opens up and I can start going to work again. But my situation is way different. I've purposely chosen both my employer and my living situation to suite me. I have 15-25 minute drive to office. My gym is on the way and there is several choices of grocery stores, so I can get additional benefit for my commute. On top of that the 20 minutes of driving back home is very nice book end to day of working and I can leave the office completely behind me and just have a nice drive and listen some music. In same toon in the morning I can hit the gym and then have a nice drive to office and start focusing on the work immediately. It is fine if you don't like your commute or your office, but don't take it personally when someone says that they like it.
  - watwut 5y ago
    You cut the sentence just before it turned out it is primarily complaint about drivers: > around drivers who I can only presume have WW2 fighter style marks for how may cyclists they've managed to run off the road Aggressive or unsafe driving is bad even if the author has the option to use other transport. It is bad also because to prevent people from using bikes.
    - BoxOfRain 5y ago
      Yeah exactly, I know lots of people who think I'm mad for cycling through an urban environment and it's everything to do with dangerous drivers rather than the environment itself. The key I've found is to be assertive but not aggressive, cars will dangerously pull out in front of you or overtake in a dangerous manner if you show the slightest lack of confidence or hesitation. It's not an easy thing to do as any cyclist will be acutely aware that Newton's laws of motion are not on their side! Having said that, I definitely think the pro-cyclist camp (which I do consider myself a part of) likes to ignore that there are a lot of utterly useless cyclists out there too. Riding on the pavement, jumping red lights, being obstructive in traffic just to prove a point for example. I wish all cyclists kept to the highway code religiously because the small minority of bad cyclists or overly militant evangelists seriously damage the reputation of all cyclists, most of whom are simply ordinary people who want to get around without the expense or ecological footprint of driving. Cycling ought to simply be a means of getting around, as normal as walking or driving. I understand this is how it's seen in places like the Netherlands, which is a far better state of affairs than here where cyclists are basically seen as vegans on wheels with all the drama that entails. Cycling shouldn't be a political act; I don't want to tell anyone they can't use their car for example, I'm certainly not saying everyone has to take up cycling and replace every journey with it. I'm not interested in telling anyone what to do with their life choices, I just want to get to work without getting literally run off the road by a mental taxi driver or clipped by a pillock who thinks its important to save the 0.5 seconds it would have taken him to check his left mirror.
- bequanna 5y ago
  > I despise my commute because it's time that doesn't truly belong to me and I'm not being paid for. It's getting up earlier and arriving home later… Actually, the length of your commute is the result of where you choose to live and where you choose to work. If you decide that you want those to be located an hour away from each other, like magic, that is exactly how long of a commute you are responsible for making. There are almost infinite places you could live or work. I find it quite amusing that people complain and try to externalize blame for the clear result of a series of their own choices.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - VelkaMorava 5y ago
    aCtUaLlY... dude be a bit empathetic. Some people might have relatives they have to take care of, and are unwilling to downgrade their job by multiple levels, hence the commute. Others might have children with friends in local school - sure, they can move, but it's the last resort. I sincerely hate you libertariantsy types. Your attitude works when you are 25-30 with no kids and distant family. And you know what fascinates me? Having remote/in office work be optional, this doesn't impact you in any way. I can happily live without commute, you can go to office for all I care.
    - bequanna 5y ago
      > I sincerely hate you libertariantsy types Huh. I didn't realize it was a libertarian view that one should be responsible for outcomes that are obviously the result of decisions they made (and still make). > I can happily live without commute, you can go to office for all I care. Right. A choice that each of us can individually make. I've made mine and you make yours. I am simply stating that one should take personal responsibility. In general, your employer shouldn't/doesn't care how long you have to commute to work. Why? Because you are replaceable with someone who doesn't have this problem or won't whine about it. Stop externalizing blame. Your quality of life will increase greatly once you stop expecting other people to solve problems you create and just solve them yourself. > dude be a bit empathetic. Empathy for what, exactly? OP can get a job closer to their home OR move closer to their job OR find a remote only job. It isn't their employer's responsibility to endlessly subsidize and cater to the choices of their employees. Regarding your other assumptions: I am outside of the age group you mention and have children + distant family.
- diogenescynic 5y ago
  My job is fully remote, but it's not entirely greener grass. There's almost no emotional connection to the rest of the team, I used to have work friends and now there isn't really even a veneer of that. There's also a real loss of body language and other physical signs/cues you could pick up on. There's also way more meetings and "working sessions" for projects now that don't feel super productive but it's the only way to really collaborate. I also hate having my webcam on from 8am to 6pm with a brief pause for lunch. I am thoroughly glad to not have a commute, but remote work has in a lot of ways actually been worse.
  - hyuuu 5y ago
    I sympathize with this, how do you think remote work could be made better?
    - diogenescynic 5y ago
      Great question but I don’t have a good answer. All I know is it initially was great but 17 months into remote work and having no real connection to your colleagues and no water cooler discussion has really left a gap in the small things that made work okay. For instance, You don’t eat lunch with your coworkers, no one brings cupcakes in to celebrate birthdays, no one gets a beer after work. It’s all the minor pleasantries that have been stripped away and all that’s left are meetings and deliverables.
  - tacocataco 5y ago
    > I also hate having my webcam on from 8am to 6pm Is this a reference to a bunch of meetings or does your employer want to be able to watch you all day?
    - heavyset_go 5y ago
      Some employers want their remote employees to keep their camera on for various reasons, from not trusting their employees to believing that leaving webcams running emulates in-person office environments. I wouldn't agree to it, but I've heard about such requirements from others.
tkiolp4 5y ago
Genuine question: what stops you from going out for a walk to have time for yourself? I have been doing it, and I have to say I never thought I would like to just walk around the neighborhood just for the sake of walking.
- ghaff 5y ago
  I expect a lot of people need the forcing function.
- jdavis703 5y ago
  It’s just not the same. I’d love an answer too… I used to get a lot of reading done on my commute. For whatever reason sitting down to read at home is difficult. I was recently on a plane, and probably read the most I’ve read in 18 months. But I’m not sure why being on transit vs. elsewhere makes it easier to read. Perhaps the lack of consistently fast internet?
  - nerdponx 5y ago
    Yes. I am not "addicted" to my computers in that I feel withdrawal when they're gone, but my ADHD self is constantly tempted to use them. I think the computer screen is somehow a supernormal stimulus [0], especially the super-bright crisp Mac and iPhone "retina" screens that always gave me a slight headache. 0: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernormal_stimulus https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernormal_stimulus
  - throwaway743 5y ago
    Try reading during a 45 minute one-way subway ride (2x a day) with screeching brakes, people being loud, and the guarantee of at a minimum one "showtime". Headphones barely mask the noise...
    - jdavis703 5y ago
      My original post wasn’t clear, but my usual commute is by subway not by airplane. I was just nothing being in transit (whether train or plane) makes reading easier.
cascom 5y ago
I’ve now had 10 different commutes in my career (home>office combinations), and I think that the stress/comfort factor is an exponential modifier to how painful a commute is. Anecdotally - a client who lived in Texas who and had an hour drive with lots of traffic to commute to work each way had gotten a Tesla, and had had it for about 6months (this is in 2019) and he said he loved it, but that his wife liked him having it even more! When I asked why, he told me that she had noticed a marked difference in his emotional state when he got home from work for the better - when he thought about it he realized that the car taking on the mental work of dealing with rush hour traffic allowed him to decompress on the way rather than be more stressed out…
- kevinventullo 5y ago
  This is the only aspect of their “self-driving” that I find compelling. I’m nervous about giving up control at 60mph and don’t mind holding the steering wheel with cruise control on road trips, but I find stop-and-go traffic unbearable. It is one of the few situations in which I fully believe an algorithm would be less likely to get into a fender bender than me.
  - wintermutestwin 5y ago
    Isn't that just "Adaptive Cruise Control?" That feature is available on lots of brands.
jasonkester 5y ago
I’ve worked remote for a dozen odd years now, and I’ll often jump on the mountain bike or take a walk around town as my “commute” to the home office. The cool thing is that I can adjust the length of it myself, rather than relying on freeway traffic to do so for me.
christophilus 5y ago
I just “commute” to my backyard office by way of a nice, quiet walk around my neighborhood. The thing about working remote is that you can commute if you want to, and you can skip the commute if you want to. If you work on-prem, you have no choice. I prefer having a choice.
sircastor 5y ago
I can sympathize with this. I don’t miss having to take the time, but I do miss having the time to myself. I often listened to a podcast, or just drove in silence letting my mind wander. I do a daily walk, but it’s not quite the same for me.
api 5y ago
That’s a shitload of wasted money, energy, and carbon emissions that could be replaced by a babysitter, a spare room, and a walk.
screye 5y ago
I used to have a 20 minute commute that was just perfect for exactly what quote mentions. I genuinely used to love it. I would cycle or take the subway, driving 20 minutes is a lot more taxing. I'd usually listen to my daily podcast and my entire demeanor would change. What I loved even more was the ability to fully disconnect at 5pm. Having every evening properly all to yourself is something you don't appreciate until you've lost it.
Clubber 5y ago
My commute was 30-45 minutes of bumper to bumper traffic on a route that would take 15 minutes outside of rush hour. It always puts me in a bad frame of mind that takes hours to shake off and set the negative tone for the rest of the day at work and then the rest of the evening at home.
User23 5y ago
What's stopping you from setting aside the time that used to be your commute to do those things? I get up 30 minutes early and go for a walk before work.
gravypod 5y ago
Have you tried to reclaim that time without the commuting? Walk to a coffee shop and read there before work? I see a lot of "me time" posts about commuting but I think that this is something you can change without commuting.
jksmith 5y ago
I get it, but to me this is the equivalent of being nostalgic for swallowing rocks to help me digest my food. Surely there's a better way to manage the remote working lifestyle. Additionally, if you need time to do a reset or shift to prepare for work, then maybe this thunk is a solution for people with this type of remote situation. Just don't force it as excuse for company policy for those of us who don't have this problem.
nonameiguess 5y ago
That's nice for you personally, but most commutes require people to drive, and they can't space out, meditate, or read. Instead, they're stressed out about being late while causing pollution, congestion, and vehicular accidents.
psychomugs 5y ago
I've found even the walk to the bathroom, which went from two full hallways away down to a few steps out of my bed, to be a useful jaunt to think about a problem without looking at a screen.
heavyset_go 5y ago
Absolutely nothing is stopping you or the OP from choosing to take the time out of your days to give yourself some space. You don't need a mandatory, expensive and time consuming commute for that.
- tacocataco 5y ago
  And dangerous. Driving is the most dangerous activity we do all-day. There are people alive who would otherwise be dead, all because of WFH.
walshemj 5y ago
Edinburgh? that's a very compact City ie out in the sticks is a 20 min walk from princess street. 2x50 min seems super long
908B64B197 5y ago
She should get a backyard office/shed/ADU. Legal everywhere in California. That will create a physical separation as well as mental.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > She should get a backyard office/shed/ADU. > Legal everywhere in California. Edinburgh is about 1/5th of the way around the planet from California, and even if it wasn't, not all housing units are resident-owned detached single-family homes (or resident-owned units in multiplexes with individual yards) with sufficient free backyard space for a habitable, functional office.
stouset 5y ago
If you're not spending that time commuting, you can just take that same time and do it different way.

BoxOfRain 5y ago

I'm completely different, I despise my commute because it's time that doesn't truly belong to me and I'm not being paid for. It's getting up earlier and arriving home later for the exclusive purpose of mindless presenteeism, time that belongs to my boss rather than to me because I certainly wouldn't be doing it out of choice. I also have to cycle through often horrible weather around drivers who I can only presume have WW2 fighter style marks for how may cyclists they've managed to run off the road. My next job will be exclusively remote, and I'll be much better off for it. I don't mind what other people choose to do, as long as I'm not forced to participate in the return to the office.

brtkdotse 5y ago
Oh, I have no doubt there are commutes that are horrible. The part that I miss from mine is a 26 minute train ride on a train that was always punctual and never more than 50% full.
- short_sells_poo 5y ago
  In a past life I used to commute to a small scenic village out of a city. It was exactly as you describe: scenic and relaxing 25 minute train ride with not another soul on the train and it was always on time. Now I fly around a lot and it feels like half my life is draining away "waiting to get somewhere".
- hdjjhhvvhga 5y ago
  > 26 minute train ride on a train that was always punctual and never more than 50% full. I'm happy for you but it doesn't seem like a typical commute though.
  - izacus 5y ago
    Typical for whom exactly? Mine is the same, just 15 minute total. What's "typical" for you?
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
  - Smaug123 5y ago
    An internal London-to-London commute could well be like that. My Kennington to Goodge Street commute started with an empty train, while if you can flex your starting time to 10am you're going to have a pretty empty Tube on much of the network.
nextlevelwizard 5y ago
> I also *have* to cycle through often horrible weather(...) Except you do not, do you? If the weather is horrible more often than not and you still choose to bicycle then that is on you. Same goes for people who complain that their commute takes upto 2 hours. That is/was a choice you made when you chose your living arrangement and employer. I know I get downvoted for this opinion since it goes against majority of HN, but commute and office work are both really nice and I miss them. I hope come next month our office opens up and I can start going to work again. But my situation is way different. I've purposely chosen both my employer and my living situation to suite me. I have 15-25 minute drive to office. My gym is on the way and there is several choices of grocery stores, so I can get additional benefit for my commute. On top of that the 20 minutes of driving back home is very nice book end to day of working and I can leave the office completely behind me and just have a nice drive and listen some music. In same toon in the morning I can hit the gym and then have a nice drive to office and start focusing on the work immediately. It is fine if you don't like your commute or your office, but don't take it personally when someone says that they like it.
- watwut 5y ago
  You cut the sentence just before it turned out it is primarily complaint about drivers: > around drivers who I can only presume have WW2 fighter style marks for how may cyclists they've managed to run off the road Aggressive or unsafe driving is bad even if the author has the option to use other transport. It is bad also because to prevent people from using bikes.
  - BoxOfRain 5y ago
    Yeah exactly, I know lots of people who think I'm mad for cycling through an urban environment and it's everything to do with dangerous drivers rather than the environment itself. The key I've found is to be assertive but not aggressive, cars will dangerously pull out in front of you or overtake in a dangerous manner if you show the slightest lack of confidence or hesitation. It's not an easy thing to do as any cyclist will be acutely aware that Newton's laws of motion are not on their side! Having said that, I definitely think the pro-cyclist camp (which I do consider myself a part of) likes to ignore that there are a lot of utterly useless cyclists out there too. Riding on the pavement, jumping red lights, being obstructive in traffic just to prove a point for example. I wish all cyclists kept to the highway code religiously because the small minority of bad cyclists or overly militant evangelists seriously damage the reputation of all cyclists, most of whom are simply ordinary people who want to get around without the expense or ecological footprint of driving. Cycling ought to simply be a means of getting around, as normal as walking or driving. I understand this is how it's seen in places like the Netherlands, which is a far better state of affairs than here where cyclists are basically seen as vegans on wheels with all the drama that entails. Cycling shouldn't be a political act; I don't want to tell anyone they can't use their car for example, I'm certainly not saying everyone has to take up cycling and replace every journey with it. I'm not interested in telling anyone what to do with their life choices, I just want to get to work without getting literally run off the road by a mental taxi driver or clipped by a pillock who thinks its important to save the 0.5 seconds it would have taken him to check his left mirror.
bequanna 5y ago
> I despise my commute because it's time that doesn't truly belong to me and I'm not being paid for. It's getting up earlier and arriving home later… Actually, the length of your commute is the result of where you choose to live and where you choose to work. If you decide that you want those to be located an hour away from each other, like magic, that is exactly how long of a commute you are responsible for making. There are almost infinite places you could live or work. I find it quite amusing that people complain and try to externalize blame for the clear result of a series of their own choices.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- VelkaMorava 5y ago
  aCtUaLlY... dude be a bit empathetic. Some people might have relatives they have to take care of, and are unwilling to downgrade their job by multiple levels, hence the commute. Others might have children with friends in local school - sure, they can move, but it's the last resort. I sincerely hate you libertariantsy types. Your attitude works when you are 25-30 with no kids and distant family. And you know what fascinates me? Having remote/in office work be optional, this doesn't impact you in any way. I can happily live without commute, you can go to office for all I care.
  - bequanna 5y ago
    > I sincerely hate you libertariantsy types Huh. I didn't realize it was a libertarian view that one should be responsible for outcomes that are obviously the result of decisions they made (and still make). > I can happily live without commute, you can go to office for all I care. Right. A choice that each of us can individually make. I've made mine and you make yours. I am simply stating that one should take personal responsibility. In general, your employer shouldn't/doesn't care how long you have to commute to work. Why? Because you are replaceable with someone who doesn't have this problem or won't whine about it. Stop externalizing blame. Your quality of life will increase greatly once you stop expecting other people to solve problems you create and just solve them yourself. > dude be a bit empathetic. Empathy for what, exactly? OP can get a job closer to their home OR move closer to their job OR find a remote only job. It isn't their employer's responsibility to endlessly subsidize and cater to the choices of their employees. Regarding your other assumptions: I am outside of the age group you mention and have children + distant family.
diogenescynic 5y ago
My job is fully remote, but it's not entirely greener grass. There's almost no emotional connection to the rest of the team, I used to have work friends and now there isn't really even a veneer of that. There's also a real loss of body language and other physical signs/cues you could pick up on. There's also way more meetings and "working sessions" for projects now that don't feel super productive but it's the only way to really collaborate. I also hate having my webcam on from 8am to 6pm with a brief pause for lunch. I am thoroughly glad to not have a commute, but remote work has in a lot of ways actually been worse.
- hyuuu 5y ago
  I sympathize with this, how do you think remote work could be made better?
  - diogenescynic 5y ago
    Great question but I don’t have a good answer. All I know is it initially was great but 17 months into remote work and having no real connection to your colleagues and no water cooler discussion has really left a gap in the small things that made work okay. For instance, You don’t eat lunch with your coworkers, no one brings cupcakes in to celebrate birthdays, no one gets a beer after work. It’s all the minor pleasantries that have been stripped away and all that’s left are meetings and deliverables.
- tacocataco 5y ago
  > I also hate having my webcam on from 8am to 6pm Is this a reference to a bunch of meetings or does your employer want to be able to watch you all day?
  - heavyset_go 5y ago
    Some employers want their remote employees to keep their camera on for various reasons, from not trusting their employees to believing that leaving webcams running emulates in-person office environments. I wouldn't agree to it, but I've heard about such requirements from others.

tkiolp4 5y ago

Genuine question: what stops you from going out for a walk to have time for yourself? I have been doing it, and I have to say I never thought I would like to just walk around the neighborhood just for the sake of walking.

ghaff 5y ago
I expect a lot of people need the forcing function.
jdavis703 5y ago
It’s just not the same. I’d love an answer too… I used to get a lot of reading done on my commute. For whatever reason sitting down to read at home is difficult. I was recently on a plane, and probably read the most I’ve read in 18 months. But I’m not sure why being on transit vs. elsewhere makes it easier to read. Perhaps the lack of consistently fast internet?
- nerdponx 5y ago
  Yes. I am not "addicted" to my computers in that I feel withdrawal when they're gone, but my ADHD self is constantly tempted to use them. I think the computer screen is somehow a supernormal stimulus [0], especially the super-bright crisp Mac and iPhone "retina" screens that always gave me a slight headache. 0: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernormal_stimulus https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernormal_stimulus
- throwaway743 5y ago
  Try reading during a 45 minute one-way subway ride (2x a day) with screeching brakes, people being loud, and the guarantee of at a minimum one "showtime". Headphones barely mask the noise...
  - jdavis703 5y ago
    My original post wasn’t clear, but my usual commute is by subway not by airplane. I was just nothing being in transit (whether train or plane) makes reading easier.

cascom 5y ago

I’ve now had 10 different commutes in my career (home>office combinations), and I think that the stress/comfort factor is an exponential modifier to how painful a commute is. Anecdotally - a client who lived in Texas who and had an hour drive with lots of traffic to commute to work each way had gotten a Tesla, and had had it for about 6months (this is in 2019) and he said he loved it, but that his wife liked him having it even more! When I asked why, he told me that she had noticed a marked difference in his emotional state when he got home from work for the better - when he thought about it he realized that the car taking on the mental work of dealing with rush hour traffic allowed him to decompress on the way rather than be more stressed out…

kevinventullo 5y ago
This is the only aspect of their “self-driving” that I find compelling. I’m nervous about giving up control at 60mph and don’t mind holding the steering wheel with cruise control on road trips, but I find stop-and-go traffic unbearable. It is one of the few situations in which I fully believe an algorithm would be less likely to get into a fender bender than me.
- wintermutestwin 5y ago
  Isn't that just "Adaptive Cruise Control?" That feature is available on lots of brands.

jasonkester 5y ago

I’ve worked remote for a dozen odd years now, and I’ll often jump on the mountain bike or take a walk around town as my “commute” to the home office. The cool thing is that I can adjust the length of it myself, rather than relying on freeway traffic to do so for me.

christophilus 5y ago

I just “commute” to my backyard office by way of a nice, quiet walk around my neighborhood. The thing about working remote is that you can commute if you want to, and you can skip the commute if you want to. If you work on-prem, you have no choice. I prefer having a choice.

sircastor 5y ago

I can sympathize with this. I don’t miss having to take the time, but I do miss having the time to myself. I often listened to a podcast, or just drove in silence letting my mind wander. I do a daily walk, but it’s not quite the same for me.

api 5y ago

That’s a shitload of wasted money, energy, and carbon emissions that could be replaced by a babysitter, a spare room, and a walk.

screye 5y ago

I used to have a 20 minute commute that was just perfect for exactly what quote mentions. I genuinely used to love it. I would cycle or take the subway, driving 20 minutes is a lot more taxing. I'd usually listen to my daily podcast and my entire demeanor would change. What I loved even more was the ability to fully disconnect at 5pm. Having every evening properly all to yourself is something you don't appreciate until you've lost it.

Clubber 5y ago

My commute was 30-45 minutes of bumper to bumper traffic on a route that would take 15 minutes outside of rush hour. It always puts me in a bad frame of mind that takes hours to shake off and set the negative tone for the rest of the day at work and then the rest of the evening at home.

User23 5y ago

What's stopping you from setting aside the time that used to be your commute to do those things? I get up 30 minutes early and go for a walk before work.

gravypod 5y ago

Have you tried to reclaim that time without the commuting? Walk to a coffee shop and read there before work? I see a lot of "me time" posts about commuting but I think that this is something you can change without commuting.

jksmith 5y ago

I get it, but to me this is the equivalent of being nostalgic for swallowing rocks to help me digest my food. Surely there's a better way to manage the remote working lifestyle. Additionally, if you need time to do a reset or shift to prepare for work, then maybe this thunk is a solution for people with this type of remote situation. Just don't force it as excuse for company policy for those of us who don't have this problem.

nonameiguess 5y ago

That's nice for you personally, but most commutes require people to drive, and they can't space out, meditate, or read. Instead, they're stressed out about being late while causing pollution, congestion, and vehicular accidents.

psychomugs 5y ago

I've found even the walk to the bathroom, which went from two full hallways away down to a few steps out of my bed, to be a useful jaunt to think about a problem without looking at a screen.

heavyset_go 5y ago

Absolutely nothing is stopping you or the OP from choosing to take the time out of your days to give yourself some space. You don't need a mandatory, expensive and time consuming commute for that.

tacocataco 5y ago
And dangerous. Driving is the most dangerous activity we do all-day. There are people alive who would otherwise be dead, all because of WFH.

walshemj 5y ago

Edinburgh? that's a very compact City ie out in the sticks is a 20 min walk from princess street. 2x50 min seems super long

908B64B197 5y ago

She should get a backyard office/shed/ADU. Legal everywhere in California. That will create a physical separation as well as mental.

dragonwriter 5y ago
> She should get a backyard office/shed/ADU. > Legal everywhere in California. Edinburgh is about 1/5th of the way around the planet from California, and even if it wasn't, not all housing units are resident-owned detached single-family homes (or resident-owned units in multiplexes with individual yards) with sufficient free backyard space for a habitable, functional office.

stouset 5y ago

If you're not spending that time commuting, you can just take that same time and do it different way.